Andrew Raycroft on team style vs. team personnel

Andrew Raycroft on team style vs. team personnel

Good morning gentlemen uh don’t he it forier uh does not hear the Canadian in you and I knew the first three words that you would say would be see I don’t hear it and if we like you know gave you a longer answer to so you know like do

You still hear the I hear the Canadian in you do you still hear it no I don’t hear it at all I don’t I I I get that a lot I I’ve lost a lot of it I don’t say a at all um I think I’ve just been down

Here for so long that it’s kind of went away a little bit there’s certain words I think that I say that that people laugh at but most of the time I I get you don’t sound Canadian most of the time I get that yeah and uh yeah I know

Peter Lavette like you do and he’s a guy from Massachusetts who now sounds like he’s from Canada yeah that’s right that the the dressing rooms the locker rooms usually just kind of bring everybody to the middle hockey talk hockey talk my favorite favorite my favorite is honky talk somebody on

The twitch just said honky talk well there that there is that too Razer uh Razer on the backto back on after the Tampa game your energy level was at a what that night um I I mean I enjoyed the Tampa game I’ve had much lower energies if you

Watched at 1:30 in the morning in the backto back Calgary Edmonton I’m sure it was a lot low lower then um it was probably about uh 6 and a half seven yeah you and jaff had to like travel or something the next day I think Sophia

Asked if you were going to do the college stuff in your uh podcast and I think uh jaffy was just we’re not doing Bruin get the hell out of here I gotta go somewhere well yeah I’m down at I’m down at Bristol now so I did nine hour yeah

Nine hours of college hockey yesterday and I have nine hours staring at me today at 2 o00 so to my energy level tonight at 11:07 will be probably at a 4 three maybe um long day coming up here so what do you think the energy level

Will be uh for the uh the Bruins on Saturday now granted now they have officially um uh clinched a playoff spot for the eighth straight year they needed what uh either the capitals or the uh the wings either one of those teams to lose both of them lost so they go to the

Playoffs again so with that where do you think the energy level is going to be on uh on uh on Saturday it should be good they they got two days off and they stayed on the road the time so everybody gets to sleep a

Lot no one has a lot of chores to do so that’s positive for the guys they have practice today in Washington and then they’ll be ready to go tomorrow um I thought their energy level was great against Florida after they they got yelled at the other day in practice and

And are trying to get ramped up for practice and the other they have the best schedule um a lot of years these guys have had games in hand and they’ve grinded at the end they have the the the least amount of games left in the league

Which is a huge positive for them this season I think they’re going to be able to take advantage of these two-day rest periods that they just had now where everyone else is backto backs and every other day so I think their energy level will be high on Saturday I expect a good

Effort uh Razer the uh the backto back was unique because Florida and Tampa very different Florida leans on you they just muck it up they grab you they like to scrum and should we be worried about Tampa I know you and Jeff were talking about hey it looks like Tampa’s kind of

Rounding into shape regardless of what the numbers say at the end of the year with Tampa Bay are you seeing a team that you’re going to have to take seriously come the postseason oh yeah no question absolutely when they when you have one of the best defenders you have

Two guys the whole the whole core of one St cups multiple times uh crav probably could be maybe the MVP of the season um they they’re they’re legit they’re going to be a hard out listen the first round guys it I this first round no matter where you are in in the Eastern

Conference especially is going to be ridiculous it it really is it’s it’s not going to be one of those years where oh my God I can’t believe this team or that team didn’t get out of the first round it’s because they’re playing the there’s six team teames going into the Eastern

Conference playoffs that think they can win the Stanley Cup legitimately believe that their Stanley Cup worthy and the other two are going to be hot getting in on the last day so it’s uh it’s it’s going to be ridiculous how hard the first round is for the Eastern

Conference playoffs so we’re talking to uh Andrew raycroft and I’m curious off of that Razer what’s and maybe this is a stupid question but you you should you should understand it’s hocky talk yeah we’re insulated here is it is it is it fair to say that um style is more

Important like hockey the way you play like your philosophy your style of play is more challenging than a team’s Personnel o um no I think well I think it’s I think it’s harder to get there because you need 22 Personnel to get there where the Personnel you can have bits and pieces

Everybody but if you really like this Bruin style this Bruin’s culture it’s that’s been that’s been what when did Chara got here in ‘ 07 so that’s 17 years of natural selection essentially to get to this point where the Bruins know exactly what kind of personnel they

Need to have what kind of person what kind of character what kind of player um there’s been guys that have got shipped out very quickly that’s part of that natural selection you you re you can read into all of those quick moves and and know this is how the Bruins have got

To this culture so I would say the the style that you play is predicated on the personnel and you need all of them so it’s harder to get to that I think teams want to but they also get blinded or they get distracted by high-end talent that the Bruns don’t get distracted by

That anymore they they understand exactly what they need and what kind of person they need to to be able to pull the Rope the same way Razer I know a couple nights ago uh hamper was with Peak Carlo was with W spoon if everybody is upright and ready to go on the back

End who are the back six and how would you pair them well I liked I was in I was intrigued the other night um the game didn’t really settle in to really understanding or seeing how those lineups or those pairings would have worked it didn’t it just wasn’t one of

Those games you could it really became clear um uh those are certainly my top six that’s who’s starting um W spoon Peak and then of course hampus Carlo grizzli maoy um I I I would imagine again this is very matchup based depends on who they play what kind of team they

Play um but I would I would probably stick to how it’s been where you have Carlo lindol makoy grizzli and then the other two guys when it comes to uh first of all like how would you define High danger chances like what is that is it

Just a breakaway is it uh I’m just trying like looking at the stats looking at the numbers look at the you know the game they lost against uh Tampa everyone keeps bringing up high danger chances either the amount that they had to withhold or the ones that they gave up

On like they didn’t even use them like they too much passing going on how do you explain that well High danger chances are typically in the slot which is the middle of the ice between Z and 30 feet away um it usually they bring into consideration an East West pass over the

Midline meaning a pass across Center ice and then a shot directly off of that typically that’s a onetime or a quick play that’s that’s high danger uh so it but also you know you can pass the the eye test as well sometimes um with those analy ICS a hi

Then they they haven’t got this figured out yet um a breakaway from David pack is different than a breakaway against Christian forier so both of those would be high danger opportunities but at the same time I’m probably picking forier to take the breakway on me rather than

David pday I see what you did there that was that was uncalled for called his shot really what it was I don’t think that was really needed but whatever uh Razer you mentioned Jim Montgomery’s call out of this team last year didn’t need to do a lot of that what does it

Say about Monty this year that there is that confidence there and that there is kind of understanding the pulse of the team because Friday night they are excuse me against Florida sorry this team did respond it yeah they they did respond I it’s just him being here another year no

No berson no Cree a lot of younger guys knowing he has to coach more um you know I’m sure he blew up guys privately last season that that no one saw but but publicly for him to do that he’s just trying to get everybody’s attention and

So I I think that’s that that is his coaching style that he feels comfortable doing that that’s how he gets people’s and players attention and I I think it goes to just kind of the the roster and the team they have they need a they need

The the whip a little bit more than what they needed last season uh so uh Razer what is uh what’s on the schedule today nine hours of uh college hockey what do we got uh Mesopotamia State against Western Saskatoon what’s going on no no no no no

Big boys today we got the big boys today we got Boston College at two o’clock so you got to tune in to that everybody they’re the number one team in the country and uh at this point should roll through this tournament but of course it’s hockey so you never know uh Quinn

Aak against Wisconson so another bit of a local flare there and then tonight North Dakota Michigan that’s his as big as it gets Michigan State as well so those are all football schools guys you might have actually heard a couple of those Wisconsin Michigan North Dakota well not North Dakota yeah oh North

Dakota State yeah North Dakota State’s had more football success in BC boy Josh Allen my boy Josh Allen why can’t why can’t BC football be as good as BC hockey because of Clemson in Florida State inv investigate that R Florida State can’t the line change like they

Can have in the offensive line against I would assume the the recruiting pools in two different parts of the country it makes it a little more this one one pool is a little more used to the cold than the other um I mean Andy listen the the

Reality is if if Florida State or Miami had a hockey team there might be a few more guys going there than Boston College too hey Razer let me ask you a weird question that Minnesota high school hair hockey team that they put online every year do you you do you do

You look at that and think of you know a great mullet once gone by yeah those are the good old days blind you know the bleach blonde hair for playoffs um that that was a thing I’m not sure and it certainly is a thing in Minnesota they they’ve really leaned

Into that and the kids do a pretty good job uh getting creative with their hair style did did you at one point in time have a mullet that you then dyed white no I I didn’t go long hair too often when I did it was kind of more

Longer on top rather than longer on the back never really went full mullet and and the mullet thing kind of came in the last five or six years where it like returned I missed it in the 80s and I missed it on the back end here now the

New age mullet so um I had long hair but it wasn’t wasn’t meant to be a mullet so you missed mullet and like the Lanny McDonald giant mustache as well yeah yeah I pul I we went mullet or we went mustache a little bit just for

Fun we would we would go with a mustache every you know every middle of the season when you’re kind of bored but um yeah now the mustache is a little bit more um a little bit more accepted nowadays as well can you grow a good one

If you had to I don’t I would I would envision jaffy might be able to grow the better facial hair between the two of you because of the follically challenged up top my mustache grows really well uh everything else is is probably not as

Good I haven’t let it go in a while but I had a hard time I mean 23 I was still I was still trying to get to puberty I had no chance of growing a beard at that point but you I’m probably a little better now I have to shave a little bit

More but but no my mustache is good everything else not so good Crush any any discussion at nessen of the playoff mustache and kind of letting it go or do you guys have to you should do it also yeah like can’t you do it with the team

And get away with it no no that’s a that’s a team player thing um oh I know listen listen there are some people that do it so I don’t want to offend anybody but as a former player that like offends me when people put play you know do the

Playoff beard right it’s like well no it’s kind of one of those things it’s like you get to do it if you’re on the team um so if I if I rolled in and like hey guys look at my playoff beard I would I would take it on the chin for

Sure oh and on that note there you go Razer have a great time with all the college hockey stuff we will talk to you next Friday friend thanks a bunch and hopefully forier heard all of the Canadian in you during this interview when he says tomorrow that tomorrow is one of them y

Tomorrow tomorrow o thank you yeah all that Razer thank you buddy we’ll see you you got it happy Easter huh there you go Easter Bunny shows up for you happy Easter yeah thanks buddy Easter Bunny yeah oh you doing a big Easter egg hunt for all kid

No I’m over that stuff and really Easter Easter is about you know our Lord Jesus Christ rising from the dead I Mama forier messing around on Easter messing around EAS will you will you uh in honor of Mama forier like go to mass on Easter or something like that will you actually

Rise early out of your own bed to worship no just GNA be honest but she will send me which I will send all of you a very very long prayer which I’ll send all you guys prayer and it starts with he is risen hallelujah hallelujah he is risen

He is risen every single every single one oh Billy spoiler but it happens every year not for us it hasn’t I’m GNA wake up in Atlantic City on Sunday morning after watching uh after watching bar barbaric UFC my God I’m going to go watch people fight because it’s fun quite honestly that’ll

Be something yeah the Easter Bunny thing I got over that pretty early just so I’m so done with all these costumes you know characters coming in the middle of the night leaving stuff I just I just uh do you do a basket for the youngest though

No but it’s like but from the candy end it’s like Halloween way way today and it’ll be all 60% off on Monday you go you can have everything yeah

NESN’s Andrew Raycroft joined the show to discuss his Canadian accent, his energy level after Wednesday’s loss Boston Bruins loss in Tampa Bay, the B’s energy level heading into tomorrow’s game in Washington, if the Bruins should be concerned with the Lightning, a team’s style vs. personnel, the B’s defensive pairings going forward, the definition of “high danger chances,” head coach Jim Montgomery’s willingness to call out the team, and playoff beards.

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